Automatic unloader for elevators



Nov. 19, 1929. s. OLSON AUTOMATIC UNLOADER FOR ELEVATORS 'Filed Oct.'14. 1927 I: l wv l l 7 I I O J04 F- llql I .l lllll Illlllllill /ll l l/II U JIIII. i

, ny i @w pf 5 casing showing the double'strand of chain SAMUEL OLSON,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

Patented Nov. 19, 1 929 r IPIATENT' OFFICE ASSIGNQRTO SAMUEL OLSON &COMPANY, OF

CHICAGO, rumors, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS AUTOMATIC-UNLOADER FORELEVATORS Application filed October 14, 1227. Serial No. 226,087.

This invention relates to automatic unloading elevators and moreparticularly to improved construction,

the type adapted to unload at several points. The object of'thisinvention is to provide an wherein a plurality of individual loadsmay becarried on one tray of the elevator and be individually discharged atalong the path of travel of the elevator. It consists in certainfeatures andelements of construction in combination, as herein shown anddescribed and as indicated in the claims.

In the drawings: 3 Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic V18W of an.elevator embodying this invention, to-. gether with an outline of acontinuous belt conveyor at its lower end for recelving'loads from thedown run side of the elevator.

' Figure 2 is ahorizontal transverse section looking down at theunthrough the elevator taken on line, 2+2, Flg- -loading mechanism, ure1.

. 17a Figure3 is afragmentary side view taken gether with a loadejecting arm in registra- .tion with one of the compartments.

the load ejecting arms -at,interva'ls, corresponding to the spacing of:the trays on the on line 3-3, Figure-1, inside the elevator supportingthe tray of compartments to- Figure 4. is a fragmentary detail sectionof ,the'ratchet detent mechanism forv operating In-the-use-of elevatorsfor delivering loads tovarious predetermined points. along the path oftravel it, is frequently desirable to load onto one carrier severalparcels to be de- ,livered at difi'erent stations along the path of 1 p46 travel, durmg a single trip of the carrier; this requires only-onestop tion. In institutions, such as large hospitals,

' the charts or records of the patients are often.

kept in a main '.ofiice, and calls for the charts of several of thepatients .bytheir attendants on the various floors are frequently madeat the same time. This is-one class of service for which thepresenticonstruction'is well adapted; I In the what diagrammatically anelevator comprisdifierent predetermined points.

for. the loading opera-:-

mally extending drawing Figure 1, illustrates some sition and the adjacentforward 'arm'extending a pair of endless chain belts, 1, trainedover the usual head and foot wheels, 2 and 3, respectlvely. The casingfor the elevator may be of any suitable construction. Cross bracingcomprisingangle irons, 4, is attached to the walls of the casing forsupporting the head and foot ends of the elevator proper,

' that of the trays. Each of the rods, 7, is I adapted to partiallysupport a tray, 8, having a substantially horizontal base member, 9,extending outwardly from the'chain belts. The outer edge of the basememberis supported by braces, 10, extending obliquely and attachedattheir lower ends to the inner sides of the chain belts. Each tray isprovided with a plurality of load-carryingpompartments, 1'1,extendingtransversely of the tray, formed by upstanding partitions, 12,which are fastened to the base member, 9. These partitions, may be ofU-shape construction, with their upper ends flanged outwardly forconnection with the adjacent portions to form a rigid construction. 7Each compartment is intended to carry an individual load to apredeterminedstation along the path of travel of the elevator. c a s Ateach floor level or other station-point, at which loads are discharged,automatic 'unloading mechanism'is provided, inside of the elevator forejecting the load from the corresponding compartment of the tray, ontoan inclined chute, 15, which discharges on to any suitable platform,herein shown as a table, 16. Each unloading mechanism comprises a spidermember, 17, having four radially ex- I tending arms, 18, atapproximately right angles to each other, one of said armsnordown-wardly in a vertical poing laterally into the path of travel ofthe Ice I 30 the said arm, to swing it in an upwardly di-. rection outof the path of travel, and simul-- taneously swinging the adjacentlowerarm elevator. Said spider is secured on a trans versely extendingshaft, 19, with which. it

pivots in suitable bearing brackets, 20,- attached to the oppositeinside "angle guide members, 5, at a point above the chute, 15, so thatthe lower path of the swing of the arms I is in approximate horizontalalignment with the to of said chute. It will be understood 4 that t iespiders o'f'these various-unloading mechanisms are :mounted on their.shafts in position, so that the arms, 18, extend in alignment forejecting the contents from the particular compartment carrying a load tobe dischar ed at that point. 1

The c ain belts, 1, are provided with auxiliary cross rods, 21, atpoints above the trays,

each of the said rods having guide rollers, 6, to run between the angleirons, 5.

The'i'od, 21 is adapted to impinge against the under side of theforwardly extending arm of the spider as the elevator travels upwardly,thereby turning the spider so that the downwardl up to a position toproject laterally into the path of travel of the elevator, for encounterwith the next-cross rod, 21. An automatic deten't device is provided foreach unloading mechanism adjacent the end of shaft, 19, for aligning thespider arms so that one of said arms shall always stand thus inhorizontal positionin the path of'travel. All the rollers, 6, on thecross rods, 7 and 21', on the same side as the .detent mechanism areprovided with relatively widebearing flanges, 22, for actuating thedetent to release the shaft, 19, and permit the spider to be revolved.

Said detent comprises a ratchet member, '23,

- keyedto shaft, 19, near one end, having its outer periphery notched at24, at 90 intervals. A combination member, 25, is pivotally connected toa depending lug 20 of the bracket 20, secured to the angle guides 5, andhas a trip finger, 26, extending into the path of the flange, 22, of therollers, so as to be' forced upwardly thereby, to disengage a pawl, 27connected to member, 25, and formed for meshing in the notches, 24, ofthe ratchet,

23. The pawl is yieldingly held in-engagement by a spring, 28, connectedto the outer end of the member, 25, and to an angle. guide,

5. It will thus be clear that the detent mechanism frees the spider tomake a quarter turn "each timea flange 22, of the roller, 6, engages thetrip finger and that the arms of the spider go through the dischargingmotion with the aligned compartment of the tray, each time a tray passesthe unloading mechanism whether the compartment is loaded or empty.

The undersides of the, trays, which 'on the down run side of theelevator are the upper sides, may be advantageously'used to carry loadsdown to the originalstarti'ng or collecting point. 'A tray inpassingaround the foot wheels, as indicated in dotted lines at the bottom ofthe elevator, will permit an easy dis.-

charge of a load on to the curved deflector plate, 29, for delivery ontoa continuous belt, 30, which may carry these loadsto any desired pointof discharge,'herein shown as a table, 31.

It is mechanically necessary to provide a slight clearance in thepockets, 11, for the ejector arms, 18, and if a paper should stand inthe pocket in this clearancespace it might be missed by the ejector;therefore I prefer to make the bottoms of the pockets-.V-shaped orupwardly convex as shown at 12*,sothat the lower edge of a card orpaper.will-slide toward one side wall thus insuring that the paper will leanagainst the opposite wall and will thus stand 1n the path of the ejectorarm, 18. I

I claim:

1. The combination of an elevator compris- I ing endlessbelt means witha tray carried thereby, upstanding spaced partitions dividing the trayinto a plurality of compartments; and unloading means for the severalcompartments at different points respectively along the path oftravel,'each.of said means comprising an arm dimensioned and mounted toass between a pair of ad acent partitions;

a xed pivotal mounting for said means dis posed out of'the path oftravel of the elevator and means associated with saidarm normallyextending into said path and engageable with apart of the elevator forswinging the arm through one of the compartments to eject the contentsthereof. 2. The combination of an elevator comprismg a continuous beltwith a tray carried horiverse axis, one of said arms normally dependingdownwardly' in alignment with one of the compartments and an adjacentarm extending laterally into the path oftravel of the belt,'meanscarried on the belt, engageable with the laterally extending arm wherebyto swing the downwardly depending arm between the adjacent partitions ofthe compartment for ejecting the contents thereof.

3. The combination of an elevator comprising acon'tinuousbelt with atray carried horizontally thereby, upright partitionsspaced on the trayto form a transversely extending row of compartments, unloading meansfor 'no zontally thereby, spaced artitions dividing tray to engage thelaterally extending arm and swing it upwardly, whereby the downwardlydepending arm is swung outward be-' tween the partitions of thecorresponding compartment for ejecting the contents thereof, the furtherupward travel of the belt serving to swing the last mentioned armupwardly to permit continued travel of said tray. 7

' 4. In thecombination defined in claim 3, means'associated with saidunloading means for maintaining said arms inproper relation forengagement with the actuating means on the belt. a

, 5. The combination of an elevator compris- I ing an endless belt witha tray projecting therefrom, upright partitions dividing the fordischarging its contents horizontally, the bottom wall of such pocketbeing upwardly convex, slo' ing downwardly toward the side walls for t epurpose indicated.

8. The combination ofhan elevator which includes a tray subdividedinto aplurality of load supporting spaces and'automat'ic load ejecting meansdisposed at stations along'the path of travel of the tray, eachpositioned to register with a different space of thesame, for ejectingaload fromsuch space, whereby the placing of a. load upon any given spaceof the tray predetermines the station at which it will be discharged.

9. In the combination jdefined in claim 8,

tray into a plurality of compartments, un-

loading means for difi'erent compartments at different points along thepath of travel,

each of said means including a spidermounted for pivotal movement,'saidspider comprising radially extending arms at substantially right anglesto each other, oneof said arms normally depending downwardlyin alignmentwith a particular compartment and an adjacent arm eXtendin laterallyinto the path of travel of the be t, means on the belt upwa'rdly of thetray for engaging said laterally extending arm and swinging it"upwardly,

whereby the adj acent downwardly depending arm is swung outward betweenthe partitions of the said compartment for ejecting the contentstherefrom, the further upward travel of the belt serving to swing theejecting arm upwardly to permit continued travel of the tray, togetherwith detent means associated with said .spider -for raising said arms inposition for such cooperation-with said tray.

6. The combination of an elevator comprising endless belt means, a traysupported thereby, upstanding spaced partitions dividing said tray intoa plurality of compartments, and automatic load ejecting means disposedat stations along the path of travel, each positioned to operate upon aload in a the placing o a load in a given compartment predetermines thestation at which it will be 1 discharged.

prising a relatively narrow, vertically disposed and open ended pocketin which such ob ects may stand on edge, and an ejector memberarranged-to sweep through the pocket difi'er'ent com artment of thetray, whereby said elevator including endless belt means and a pluralityof similar trays, each subdivided into several load supporting spaceswith a space of each tray positioned to register with the load ejectingmeans at each station. I I SAMUEL OLSON I

